Shoe-last



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No. 606,114'. Patented June 21,1898.

and end of the last.

UNITED STATES :PATENT EEICE.

GEORGE II. BANKS, OF SPRINGVALE, MAINE.

SHOE-LAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,1 14, dated June 21, 1898.

Application tiled June 1, 1896. Serial No. 593,797. (No model.)

` T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. BANKS, a citi` zen of the United States, residing at Springvale, in the county of York and State of Maine, have inventedA certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Lasts; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to -improvements in shoe-lasts, the object of the same being to provide means whereby the insole and upper may be securely fastened to the last Without wearing away the body of the last itself. It has heretofore been the custom in making shoes to attach the insole and'upper to the last by driving nails directly into the bottom This, however, very quickly Wears out vthe material of which the last is made, and, furthermore, after it has been used a few times the securing-nails cannot find a purchase in the wood of the last and the insole is apt to slip od.

By my invention I'propose to make the last with a series of recesses along its bottom side and one at the rear or heel thereof which are filled with a cup containing loops of wire or wire staples packed tightly therein, with the looped ends outward, through which the nails are to be driven.

The invention also consists in other details of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure l represents a bottom plan view of a last constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section therethrough. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of thewire staples or loops employed by me for iilling the recesses in the under side of the last.

Like reference-numerals indicate like parts in the different views.

The last 1 is formed with a series of openings or recesses 2 2 along the bottom thereof and with a similar recess 3 at the heel. The entire bottom is covered by a sheet of metal 4, `havin g perforations 5 therein which register with the recesses 2 2 in the bottom of the last, but are of smaller diameter than said recesses. Fittingthe recesses 2 and 3 and secured therein by solder or otherwise are cups 6 G, which are packed with wire staples 7, as clearly shown.

The said staples 7 are packed in the cups G 6,

with the looped ends thereof adjacent to the open ends of the cups, so that when the securing-nails are driven into the last said staples will yield at the bent or looped ends thereof, permitting of a tight joint, and at the same time lpermitting of the ready inserthrough into the mass of wire staples and a tight joint effected thereby.

It will be observed that by my construction the last may be used for an almost in definite period, the principal wear thereon being at the point where the securing-nails are applied and which in my device is the strongest part of the last.

I amaware that lasts have been heretofore employed provided with openings in the bottom and rear ends thereof, which openings are iilled with straight pointed strips of wire. This construction I do not claim broadly, as I have found by experience that when a series of pins or strips of wire in straight strands are employed they are inoperative for holding the securing-nail in place,'provided they are packed tightly, and if they are not packed tightly they will slip out of the sockets in the last in which they are placed. By employing staples of springwire a greater resiliency is given to the mass packed within the socket, by reason of the fact that the connecting portions of the two parallel strips of wire constituting said staples will bend and yield to the pressure applied by the securing-nail whendriven into the center of the mass.

Having now described`my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A shoe-last havinga recess therein, and wire loops or staples tightly packed in said recess, with the looped or bent ends thereof adjacent to the outer edge of the recess, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A shoe-last havin ga recess therein, a cup Ying-nails for the insole or upper are driven IOO fitting said recess, and Wire loops or staples packed tightly in said cup, with the looped or bent ends thereof lying adjacent to 'the outer edge of the cup, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A shoe-last having a series of recesses therein, cups fitting said recesses, Wire loops or staples packed tightly therein and lying with the looped or bent ends thereof adjacent to the outer edge of the cups, and aprotectingplate secured to the bottom of said last having openings therein registering with said recesses, but of smaller diameter than said cups, as and for the purpose set forth.

ln testimony whereof I have signed this 15 specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE II. BANKS.

Witnesses SUSAN E. FROST, LYDIA F. Fnosr. 

